The Necklace - The Dusky Club, June 1962, Linda S Rice [manga ebook reader .TXT] 📗

Maybe it was what his dad had said. Maybe it was the thought that she was a virgin, although he doubted that was even possible. Perhaps it was because he didn’t want to spoil it by taking advantage or scaring her after being with her and getting to know her.

He had to admit that he was captivated by her. No, it was more than that even. It was as if she’d cast some spell on him from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her in the club. And although he craved her body lying beneath his, he also wanted more from her than just her physical self. Maybe that was why he wasn’t pressuring her to open her door.

Whatever the reason, he didn’t press her further to let him into her room. Instead, he leaned forward and kissed her lips very tenderly and softly, brushing his lips back and forth across hers while at the same time placing his hands on each side of her waist and pulling her in closer.

She pressed her hands against his chest when his kiss deepened and became more demanding. As his tongue slid into her mouth, exploring and tasting her, she was tempted to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him more tightly into her. A stray hand reached up, and she ran her fingers through his hair, her other hand curling into a ball as she crushed a handful of his shirt.

He smelled so wonderful, and his hair was so soft and silky in her fingers. The feel of his hands caressing her and pulling her into him set her on the verge of losing all sense.

She made a little sound of pleasure as his lips left hers for a moment, and he moved them to the side of her neck to taste her skin. He moved his tongue over her delicate collarbone then lightly bit down the side of her neck before fiercely claiming her mouth again as his kiss turned hungry.

Her mouth tasted so sweet, and her full breasts pressed up against his chest. He felt on fire. His arms wrapped around her tighter and his hands roamed up and down her back, pressing her even closer to him.

Her knees were ready to buckle under her. Oh, God, she wanted more of this! Her seventeen-year-old body was in flames with uncontrollable want and need as she felt his hardness pressing against her belly, but her aged mind was sending out loud warning signals. Another minute of this, and she’d be opening her hotel room door and dragging him inside.

As these conflicting thoughts registered in her mind, she forcefully pushed him away and stepped back, ending the kiss. Their eyes pinned themselves to each other. There was no humor or laughter in them now, only wonderment and the thought of some more profound feeling that neither of them could define quite yet.

James stepped away and raised his eyebrows again, looking towards her hotel room door, while at the same time picking up her purse and handing it to her. Slowly and breathlessly, she shook her head at him. He stepped back, breathing heavily, and made a small bow to her. She released a huge sigh.

“Thank you for being a real, true gentleman tonight,” she said so softly he could barely hear her.

The memory of his kisses and his lips and his eyes as they had looked into hers flooded her mind, and she could feel a tightness in her lower belly as well as a throbbing lower down. Her hormones were holding their breath, waiting for her to change her mind about letting him in her room.

“My lady,” he said with a small nod of his head, then he turned and walked back down the hall.

If she had only known it, he was thinking about their picnic in just a few hours and how she wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer. He smiled to himself in anticipation. She would most certainly surrender; he had no doubts.

She fished in her purse for her room key and was opening her door when she saw him go into the elevator. He didn’t look back at her. She went into her room, closed the door, flung her purse onto the floor, leaned against the back of the door, and slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor, her back against the door.

“Holy crap,” she said. “I’m doomed for sure now. Oh, my God! He is one hot and irresistible guy!” She tugged on her necklace, nervously. “Well, at least,” she thought with a smile, “I didn’t make it happen tonight!”

Her hormones sighed despondently but then chuckled as they thought about the picnic and the opportunities tomorrow would present.

Lynn had been checking the App on her iPhone periodically since Susan had been sent off into the past. She was a little shocked when James had singled Susan out within minutes of her arrival, but then again, Susan was like a magnet to guys in the club in her seventeen-year-old body, her California girl tan, long blonde hair, and, of course, the dorky dress. She smiled in amusement when Susan stuck out her hand for James to kiss it in the hotel's lobby, knowing Susan was overwhelmed at the attention he was paying her.

However, she had been distraught to learn later that a wager had been made on Susan’s virtue. In fact, she was still steaming mad about it.

Susan was no match for James and his beguiling ways, and she wished there was some way to communicate with her and warn her against him. Lynn had also heard what Sara said about James having just about every girl who came to the club and thought Susan was right at the afternoon practice when she accused James of wanting to just carve another notch in the wall with her regarding the wagering business.

A wager! A bet!! How disgusting was that??!!

The guy took arrogance to a whole new level, and she was certain Susan was his newest prey. The fact that she’d resisted him the first night only meant he would increase his efforts on the next one. And then when she heard the song James had sung to Susan…“Make it happen for us tonight…”

Well, that took the cake!

Lynn was starting to feel that this whole trip into the past was a big mistake. She and Susan had been close to drunk at dinner when they’d met the ladies from Haiti. She could hardly recall the conversation but thought she might have played a significant role in convincing Susan to take the journey. What was it Mika said? That Susan would learn something important from this trip? Was Susan going to discover that James was nothing more than a shallow, self-indulgent jerk who screwed every girl in sight then discarded them like used up toys?

If so, Susan was going to be badly hurt, and she hadn’t meant for her very best friend in the world to get hurt…especially by her dream prince.

Yes, this going into the past was a mistake. Susan needed to get over her “James thing” some other way. She didn’t belong with him. She belonged back in the present with her husband, who worshiped the ground she walked on. Lynn thought this was almost like cheating, and if James had his way with her, it would be cheating.

Oh my! Why had she encouraged Susan in this craziness??!!

It was 9:00 at night in the Caribbean as Lynn turned on her iPhone and touched the App Mika had installed to check on Susan again. The scene in the hallway outside Susan’s hotel room door unfolded in front of her. Lynn’s eyes opened wide.

“Oh Suz,” she cringed, “What are you getting yourself into? And you’ve only been there a little over twenty-four hours! Kissing already?” And not only lip kissing, but all that hand and arm kissing! James looked like he was gobbling her up.

She started pacing the floor, wishing there was some way she could communicate with Susan. What was going to happen next? It looked like Susan was on the brink of letting him in her hotel room door. She’d seen the look on his face, knowing he was plotting Susan’s surrender, and she knew it probably wouldn’t take much. She vowed to keep a close watch on events, telling herself again that this whole trip into the past was a mistake.

Lynn was very uneasy.

The Picnic

The picnic basket wasn’t in the closet in the hall where James thought it was.

“Dad, do you know where the picnic hamper is?” he asked, looking back over his shoulder as Mel came down the stairs.

“Picnic hamper? Let me think. Haven’t seen it in a while, I don’t believe. Might be out in the potting shed.”

He headed through the kitchen toward the back door leading out to a small enclosed garden. To the side of the yard was a wood potting shed containing garden tools, pots, and a wooden bench. Mel spotted the picnic basket beneath the bench.

“Ah, here we are!” he said triumphantly, producing the basket.

James took it from him. “Thanks, now I just need to find some things to fill it with.”

“Going on a picnic, are you?”

“Yeah, thought we’d head out to the countryside.”

“You and your new American girlfriend?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know I’d say she’s my girlfriend…at least not yet.”

“Nice girl.”

“Yeah, Dad, I think so too. So, any ideas what I should take on a picnic?”

“Let’s see…” He opened the refrigerator. “Here’s the rest of the roast chicken I made last night, some shaved ham…oh, and here, let me pack up some of these oatmeal cookies I baked just this morning…tomatoes I just picked…take a few of these to slice up…and a couple of bottles of orange soda, can’t do without that!” He started opening the kitchen cabinets. “Just in case, take this tin of potted meat, and here’s a box of rye crisps…”

“Enough, Dad! All this could feed a crowd; it’s only going to be the two of us.”

“Well, don’t want you to go hungry…country air and all, you know. Works up an appetite. So, where in the countryside are you thinking of going?”

James responded casually, not wanting to be specific, “Oh, you know, out by Auntie Annabelle’s cottage, you know the hill where we used to go with Mum years ago. We used to picnic there all the time, remember?”

“Annabelle’s cottage, eh?”

“The hill above the cottage, yeah.”

“That’s a long way to go for a picnic.”

“Not really, less than an hour drive is all.”

“You know I took Annabelle to go visit her sister over in King’s Head last Friday. Not picking her back up again until next Sunday.”

“Yeah, I think you might’ve mentioned something about that.”

Mel stared hard at James.

“James, now listen to me; I believe the girl is an innocent if you get my meaning. Does she know where you’re taking her?”

“Not yet; I was going to make it a surprise.”

“Did you hear what I just said? I wasn’t born yesterday, you know. That girl is a sweet thing and not like the others you chase around with.”

“I know that, Dad.”

“So what’s with taking her out to Annabelle’s when Annabelle isn’t there?”

James folded his arms over his chest. “We’re getting to know each other better, is all.”

“Is it? I was young like you myself, you know. I understand what it’s like to have your nether parts think for you instead of your brain, and I can see that’s what it is with you.”

James looked contrite. “I can do my own thinking, Dad.”

“Maybe so, but